CHAPTER 2

(1451 B.C.)

TWO SPIES

¹And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlots house, named Rahab, and lodged there. (This was an Inn of sorts. The two spies did not know that Rahab was a harlot. As well, some have attempted to claim that Rahab had been forced into temple prostitution; however, the Greek Text of Hebrews 11:31 proves that she was a common harlot.

The two spies served no military purpose whatsoever. So why did Joshua send them?

The Lord told him to do such, because of Rahab, even though Joshua did not know or understand such at the time. The Lord knew that Faith lodged in the heart of this harlot, and God will go to any lengths to honor Faith [Heb., Chpt. 11].)

RAHAB

²And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither tonight of the Children of Israel to search out the country (how the king found this out, we arent told).

³And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men who are come to you, which are entered into your house: for they be come to search out all the country.

⁴And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I did not know from where they came:

⁵And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: where the men went I do not know: pursue after them quickly; for you shall overtake them.

⁶But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.

⁷And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. (We know from this that Rahab lied. The sacred historian simply narrates the fact, and makes no comment whatever upon it.

The roofs of houses, then as now, were flat in those regions. She hid the men on the roof under stalks of flax. The germ of Faith was already stirring in her heart, and it was Faith that would be amply rewarded. We must not judge Rahab, for all of this was shortly before her conversion. To be sure, we must not judge Rahab at all.)

THE PLEDGE

⁸And before they (the two spies) were laid down (to go to sleep), she came up unto them upon the roof;

⁹And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you (Rahabs Faith is shown by the expression, has given; what God wills, she regarded as already done).

¹⁰For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when you came out of Egypt (despite the fact that this took place about forty years earlier); and what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites, who were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.

¹¹And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, He is God in Heaven above, and in Earth beneath. (This declaration, bearing in mind the circumstances of the person who uttered it, is as remarkable as Peters, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God [Mat. 16:16-17]. Upon the utterance of this statement of Faith, Rahab was saved.)

¹²Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have showed you kindness, that you will also show kindness unto my fathers house, and give me a true token (Williams says, Rahab was a debauched member of a doomed race. Yet Grace saved her. She based her plea for Salvation upon the fact that she was justly ordained by God to destruction. Many people refuse to bestir themselves in the matter of personal Salvation because of the belief that if they are ordained to be saved, they will be saved, and if ordained to be lost, they will be lost; however, all sinners are justly ordained to be lost [Rom. 5:12] and, therefore, all sinners may be saved.

Rahab prefaced her plea for Salvation by declaring that she knew all were doomed to destruction, and because of this Divine Judgment, she asked for a true token that would assure her of her safety in the Day of Wrath that was coming):

¹³And that you will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death (a Faith that is born of God always evidences itself by seeking the Salvation of others; her petition was answered favorably).

¹⁴And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if you utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.

¹⁵Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

¹⁶And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may you go your way.

THE SCARLET THREAD

¹⁷And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this your oath which you have made us swear (if you do not obey what we are about to tell you to do).

¹⁸Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you did let us down by: and you shall bring your father, and your mother, and your brethren, and all your fathers household, home unto you (upon her request, the way of Salvation was immediately made clear and plain to her; it was a very simple way; all she had to do was to hang a piece of scarlet cloth [thread] in the window; a child could do that; as well, Salvation presently from the Wrath to come is equally simple; trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in His Precious Blood, secures eternal Salvation).

¹⁹And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

²⁰And if you utter this our business, then we will not honor your oath which you have made us to swear. (The assurance of Salvation to Rahab was not built upon an inward experience, but rather upon an outward evidence that is, the scarlet line. In it was perfection; in herself imperfection. Looking upon that true token and believing the testimony respecting it, she was assured of deliverance in the Day of Doom that was coming. Thus, the outward token gave an inward peace. The Believer in Jesus enjoys a similar peace. The preciousness of Christs Blood, and the Testimony of the Holy Scriptures concerning it, is the outward token which brings assurance of Salvation to the heart that trusts Christ. It was vain for Rahab to seek for Salvation upon the ground of personal worthiness; for she was vile indeed. It is equally vain for the most moral to claim Salvation today, for all have sinned, none are righteous, and all are under sentence of death [Rom. 5:12].

The condition was that the red cord would hang from the window, and that all must stay in the house where the window was. To leave the house would leave its protection. Safety was guaranteed for all who remained in the house, destruction for all who left the house. It is the same with the Blood of Christ, which the scarlet thread represented.

As long as we remain in the house of safety provided by the Blood, we are safe. To leave this house of safety, which is Faith in Christ and Him Crucified, guarantees destruction.)

THE REPORT

²¹And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window. (Rahab lost not a moment in making her calling and election sure. She bound the scarlet thread in the window; and as directly she did so, she was saved that is, she was in safety, and assured of safety. Prior to binding the scarlet line in the window, she was ordained to destruction, but, from the moment she trusted that true token, she was ordained to Salvation, as well as all her family, provided they stayed in the house, which means that they placed their trust in the scarlet thread as well.)

²²And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.

²³So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them:

²⁴And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD has delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us. (Their report was one of Faith, totally unlike the report that had been given some 38 years earlier, which doomed a generation to die in the wilderness [Num., Chpt. 13].)